So now we come this morning, we're continuing in our series in the Gospel of Mark, we come to Mark chapter 11 verses 1 through 11. So I ask you to turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 11. This is Mark chapter 11, beginning in verse one. Here now, the eternal living word of God. Now, when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tide, and on which no one has ever sat. untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately. And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, what are you doing untying the colt? And they told them what Jesus had said and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest. And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12. This is the word of the Lord. There's a famous moment in the life of Julius Caesar and in the history of Rome where Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River. This was in 49 BC. And at the time Caesar was the governor of one of the Roman territories outside of Rome. And he was a popular figure among the people because as a general, he had expanded the borders of the Roman Republic. But his popularity caused tension between him and the other elected officials in Rome. And the Rubicon River was a shallow stream which separated Rome from its provinces. And one day, he and his army crossed the Rubicon River from Gaul into Rome. And this was against the law. In doing this, Caesar knew that he was starting a civil war that would bring an end to the Roman Republic. And in this moment of crossing the river, he famously said, the die is cast, which means there's no going back from this. This is the point of no return. Our passage this morning, contains the account of Jesus entering Jerusalem for the final week of his life before his crucifixion. This is often referred to as the triumphal entry. In this moment, Jesus is publicly being declared as king. And by entering Jerusalem, he's beginning a showdown with the chief priests and the scribes that will result in his death. By entering into Jerusalem, Jesus begins his final week prior to his crucifixion and resurrection. He has crossed the threshold into the point of no return. The climax of his life and ministry is about to take place. And in this moment, he is publicly being established as the Messiah, as the coming king. And Jesus isn't just any king. He's a king that demands a response. You can't be indifferent to Jesus. He doesn't leave you that option. You must respond. Either you submit to him as king or you reject him. Our passage this morning immediately follows the story we heard about last week of Jesus healing the blind man, Bartimaeus. And this story is significant because Bartimaeus publicly declares Jesus as the son of David. He shouts it towards him twice. And this was a public declaration that Bartimaeus believed that Jesus was the long promise son of David, the Christ, the Messiah, the King who would reign on the throne forever. And Jesus, doesn't deny this. Bartimaeus shouts this in front of a large crowd, and Jesus simply calls him over and asks him what does he want him to do for him. Jesus is accepting this declaration in front of all of his followers. Bartimaeus is shouting, Jesus, the king who will reign on the throne of David forever. And Jesus doesn't say, no, that's not me, or correct him in any way. He allows it. His actions imply, yes, that is me. What can I do for you? And so you can imagine the excitement this would have brought to his disciples, to all of his followers. They've been waiting for this. They've been waiting for Jesus to publicly state what they've believed for some time, that he is the Christ, that he is the son of David who will deliver his people and will be the king forever. And now was the time, they're heading into Jerusalem. They would have been ecstatic from this expectation that once they've reached Jerusalem, Jesus was going to deliver them from the hand of their oppressors. They thought he was going to overthrow the Romans and reestablish the throne of David in Jerusalem. Now he didn't have an army, but they knew that he had the power to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise the dead, to command the wind and the sea to stop. And so then in our passage, Jesus and his disciples, they draw near to Jerusalem. They went to Bethpage, Bethany, and the Mount of Olives, which are all in the same area. Bethpage and Bethany are villages on the slope of the Mount of Olives. And they're all just outside of Jerusalem. They're all less than two miles from the wall of the city. And this was actually the wall of the temple as well. The temple was located on the eastern border of Jerusalem. And so just outside of the temple wall itself is where the Mount of Olives is located, where Bethpage and Bethany are. And you can feel the excitement building. It's here that Jesus now coordinates his entry into Jerusalem. Jesus doesn't just haphazardly stroll into the city. He stops at the Mount of Olives and he arranges the details of how he will enter. He orchestrates his entry to reveal who he is. He's entering Jerusalem with the purposeful declaration that he is the king. And so he does this first by sending two of his disciples to the village to find a particular cult. And the word translated as colt here means either a young horse or a young donkey. But given how common donkeys were in that region at the time, and also given the prophecies about the Messiah riding in on a donkey, it seems to be a young donkey. And Jesus tells them where they will find this donkey. Immediately, as soon as they walk into the village, he tells them it will be right there in front of you, tied up, and it will be unbroken. No one will have ever sat on it. He even tells his disciples what to say if someone questions them for taking this donkey. He says, just tell them the Lord has need of it and we'll send it back here immediately. And they go and do as he says, and it unfolds just like he said it would. The colt is there as soon as they get into the village. And when someone questions them why they're taking this donkey that's not theirs, they say what Jesus tells them to say. And then they just leave and take the animal with them. Jesus is intentionally arranging all the details of entering into Jerusalem to publicly declare that he is the king. He chooses to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey that has never been sat on before because in the Old Testament, you see several times an unbroken animal that has never been ridden on before used for kingly service. He's riding on a young donkey that has never been ridden before to deliberately declare that he is the king. And he's also fulfilling prophecy about the coming Messiah, the coming king. It starts all the way back in Genesis, in chapter 49. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, was blessing his 12 sons, his 12 sons from whom the 12 tribes of Israel would come. And when he gets to the blessing for his son Judah, he announces the royal pedigree that would come from the descendants of Judah. He said, the deceptor shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him. And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples, binding his fowl to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine. He has washed his garments in wine and his vestures in the blood of grapes. In his blessing to Judah, Jacob announces that a king would come from the line of Judah. and that he would tie his donkey to a vine, which means he would be wealthy. No one in their right mind would tie an animal to a vine because it would destroy it. The King coming would bring prosperity. His garments would be washed in wine. Then even more explicitly in our call to worship this morning from Zechariah 9 is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. I read, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the fowl of a donkey. And this prophecy comes after the promises that were made to David. This is referring to the coming king who will reign on the throne of David forever, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus is establishing that he is not just a king. He's not just any king. He is the long-promised king, the son of David, who will reign forever. He will bring peace to his people. Jesus is organizing all of this to publicly declare that he is this king, the Messiah. And this didn't go unnoticed by the people. Jesus had a crowd of pilgrims with him that were on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. And they probably picked up more people when they got to Bethany. Bethany was a place that Jesus knew well. This is where his close friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. This is where he raised Lazarus from the dead publicly. At this point, the crowd would have been jubilant. They lay their cloaks down on the donkey so Jesus can sit on them. They lay their coats on the ground. They're exploding with joy. The king is here, and they're shouting and singing psalms that praise Jesus as king. Hosanna, they shout. Hosanna comes from a Hebrew word that literally means, save us, we pray. They are praising God that Jesus will save them. And they're quoting Psalm 18 here, which we read in the responsive reading. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now in the original Psalm, this referred to the pilgrims entering the temple sanctuary, meaning that the pilgrim was blessed in the name of God. But we see they add something to this. They're making it about the Messiah. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David. Hosanna in the highest. This is not in the original Psalm. It's not in any Psalm or scripture. They're calling out for Jesus to save them. They're embracing Jesus as their king, They're misunderstanding what type of king he is. They're looking for Jesus to restore the kingdom of David. They have their eyes on an earthly kingdom. They don't see that Jesus is giving himself over to be crucified by the very same people that they think he's going to overthrow. They're looking for Jesus to restore Israel back to a place of prosperity. They're looking for Jesus to free them from Roman oppression. They're looking for Jesus to sit on the throne of David and rule them as David did, keep them safe from foreign enemies, to lead them into a new golden age. They thought that their biggest need was freedom from Rome. They were blind to their actual biggest need, the need for a Savior from their sins. And Jesus is riding into Jerusalem. And this would not have been a typical celebration of a king. The first century reader would have understood that there was a stark contrast between the way emperors in Rome would ride through on a thoroughbred war horse. They would have a formal and impressive ceremony and a celebration of the people surrounded by their army, a show of power and might. Jesus is riding in on a donkey. He's followed by his disciples in a crowd who are holding palm branches. Jesus isn't a king who will conquer through the sword. He won't conquer through an army, he will conquer through his own death. In Jesus riding in on a donkey, he's coming in like a servant. Kings didn't ride on donkeys, they rode, this was what a servant would ride in on. God's King is not going to conquer the Romans. He's not going to free his people from political oppression as they're expecting. He's coming into Jerusalem to suffer and die in the place of sinners. He's coming to die in the place of those who will be freed from sin and death. He's coming to defeat the spiritual enemies of Satan, sin, and evil. And in doing so, he frees all who believe in him from the bondage to sin and death. He's not coming in to kill, he's coming in to die. He's coming in to give his own life as a ransom for others. And there's a contrast in Jesus's own character that is played out in this moment. His kingship, his majesty, but also his humility and his meekness. Jesus, at the same time, holds these attributes as only he can. Jonathan Edwards, in a fascinating sermon titled The Excellency of Christ, reflects on the fact that Jesus is both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God that was slain. And he lists attributes of Jesus that seem incomparable to us, but both hold true at the same time in Jesus Christ. He mentions that in Jesus, there's both infinite highness and infinite condescension, infinite justice and infinite grace, infinite worthiness of good and the greatest patience under suffering of evil. that Jesus has a exceeding spirit of obedience while also having supreme dominion over heaven and earth. He's absolutely sovereign and has perfect resignation. He's completely self-sufficient, but entirely trusts and relies on God. And there's no contradiction in him. There's no disunity in Jesus with all these things being true. He who is both fully God and fully man is also beautifully whole. And so Jesus is a mighty king, the mightiest king. He's Lord God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, yet he rides in as a lowly servant on a donkey. and he's declaring himself as king. But he's a completely different king than anyone has ever seen. He defies all expectations. Even with thousands of years of prophecy and scriptures witnessing to his arrival, still no one expected what was going to happen. So much so that to the Romans, who were highly sensitive to any uprisings among the Jewish people, he went unnoticed. They didn't do anything about the arrival of God's anointed king because he wasn't there to overthrow them. He's there to overthrow Satan, sin, and death. He's there to bring God's values and God's heart into this broken, sinful world. He's there to undo the effects of sin and restore all of creation through his death and resurrection. And when Jesus finally gets to Jerusalem, which actually doesn't happen until verse 11, immediately he goes to the temple and looks around. He's looking at how God's people are behaving in the place of worship for God. And as we'll see over the next five chapters, he doesn't like what he sees. One third of the book of Mark is written about this one week. because the mission of Jesus Christ culminates in Jerusalem, ultimately in his life, his death, and resurrection, but also in his teaching there, in his restoring things there. He comes in as king, and while he is humble, he's not unassuming. He doesn't come in to conquer the Romans or overthrow any human government or even restore the government of the nation of Israel. but he does speak with authority. He speaks with the authority of God himself and so he demands a decision from everyone. Jesus is the king who demands a response. His whole ministry demanded a response. By speaking the way he did, making the claims that he does, he doesn't allow indifference. You can either submit to him as king or you can reject him. When he claims to have authority over sins, you can believe him or not. And if you don't believe him or submit to him for forgiveness, then you reject him. When he claims that his impending death is the ransom for many, you can either believe him and submit to him or you can reject him and deny this. As Jesus enters into Jerusalem, he's doing so in such a way that the religious leaders are either going to have to submit to him as their king, submit to his authority, or reject him and have him killed. He leaves no other option. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis posed the question that Jesus Christ had to be one of three things if you read through the Gospels. He was either a lunatic, a liar, or actually Lord as he claimed to be. C.S. Lewis wrote, you must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Jesus is a king whose coming demands a response from everyone, from you and I. You must respond to Jesus Christ. You must respond to who he is, to the gospel, the kingdom that he proclaims. You can't ignore him. You can't be indifferent to him. Either he is your Lord or he is nothing to you. Either you submit to him as king over the whole of your life or you reject him. And as we will see in Jerusalem, many will reject him. And to submit to him as your king means to be his disciple. It means to follow him, to be changed by him, to be committed to his mission for the kingdom of God. And so that the direction of your life will go towards him. And this happens in different ways, in different speeds for different people. There's ups and downs in your walk, in your relationship with Christ. There'll be times of great difficulty, times of prosperity, there are times of sorrow. times of joy but through it all he is your king and he gave his life for you and you will love him in response that is what his coming demands that is what him being king demands. You must decide who he is. The whole gospel of Mark has been exploring who is this man Jesus? What does it mean that he is the son of God, that he is the Christ? And now as he enters into Jerusalem, he's bringing everything to a head. This is the point of no return. There's no going back to obscurity. There's no avoiding the conflict and the controversy that is about to happen. And he demands a response as the coming king. Do you submit to him or do you reject him? There's no in between. In submitting to Jesus as your king, you acknowledge that he is Lord. It doesn't mean you'll be perfect. It doesn't mean you won't go astray at times, but you will follow his path. You'll know that you're going in the wrong direction because it's not bringing you closer to him. He demands to be at the center of your life because that's what's best for you. He is the king that loves you to the point that he is willing to die for you. and he gives eternal life as a free gift of the kingdom of God. And so if there's anything in your life, anything in your heart that's keeping you from Christ, you can pray for God to remove it. You can pray that God will bring you to Christ for his presence, his comfort, and his peace. He demands a response from you because he loves you and he wants what is best for you and he is what is best for you. He wants you to put Him at the center of everything you are and everything you do so that you can glorify and enjoy Him forever as you were created to do. This is our King and the greatest thing that you can do is worship Him with all that you have and all that you are. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we praise you. In your holy name, we praise you for the coming of your son, our King, Jesus Christ. We submit to you, Lord, and we submit to him as the King of our lives, of our church, of everything. Lord, help us to continue down the path you have called us to, to follow Jesus Christ, that the direction and trajectory of our lives will be towards Christ, that all that we are will be seen in him, that when people see us, they will see him, that when people come into contact with us, they will know the love of Christ and what that means. Lord, we ask that you continue to work in our hearts, that we glorify you with the whole of our lives as we continue to submit to and praise our glorious King, Jesus Christ, In whose name we pray, amen.